


One Step Closer

by CrzyFun



Series: Jack-in-the-Past AU [1]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: M/M, mentions of hicstrid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-10
Updated: 2014-09-10
Packaged: 2018-02-16 20:28:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2283510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrzyFun/pseuds/CrzyFun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's time for Jack to go forward to his own time period, which means our two boys have got to say goodbye. Or do they? Hiccup's  definitely far too stubborn to go off to Valhalla without Jack. A part of my Jack-in-the-past AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One Step Closer to the Future

_The day we met_

_Frozen I held my breath_

_Right from the start_

_I knew that I'd found a home for my_

_Heart beats fast_

_Colors and promises_

_How to be brave_

_How can I love when I'm afraid to fall_

_But watching you stand alone_

_All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow_

_One step closer_

Hiccup smiled as he made his way through the forest. He wasn't meeting Jack in the cove as usual, but in the clearing on the other side of Berk from the village where he had first met the winter god. He'd been thinking about that day long past ever since he had found the note that Jack had left for him. It had been just over four years since he and Toothless had stumbled across the boy while searching for the journal that had fallen from Toothless's saddlebag during an earlier patrol.

Hiccup chuckled at the memory of the sprite's face as he told the story of how he had met Toothless and stepped into the clearing. He looked over the area and frowned when he found Jack curled up on a rock near the center.

"Hood up, not good," Hiccup muttered, knowing Jack only pulls up his hood when he's upset. "Jack?" the viking asked, walking up to the rock.

Jack peeked up at Hiccup before jumping off the rock and burrowing into Hiccup's chest.

The dragon trainer wrapped his arms around the winter spirit and stared down in shock. A few months earlier, a growth spurt had allowed Hiccup to overtake Jack in height, but now instead of being level with Hiccup's eyes, the top of Jack's head rested comfortably under Hiccup's chin.

"Jack, what's wrong? Are you hurt? What happened?"

Hiccup felt Jack shift nervously against him. Slowly, the sprite pulled away and dropped his hood.

Now, Hiccup likes girls. He's always been attracted to girls. The fact that he love's Jack is just an... exception to the rule. So Hiccup was admittedly both shocked and aroused by the sight before him.

The figure had white hair that was cut short, just a little longer than Ruffnutt's had been after she had cut off her braids for Scauldy. Lips were painted a deep blue that matched the darker portion of the feminine eyes while shimmering blue frost made eyelids appear painted. A dark brown cloak fell over thin shoulders and brushed bare feet. Underneath were brown pants tied with leather, silver arm-guards, and a pale blue apron dress held up by silver brooches encrusted with dark blue gemstones. The dress was made from an odd, thin material and had frost-like silver designs across the bottom half. The dress also had a low cut and wasn't paired with an undergown, which gave a pretty good view of -

Hiccup heard a throat clear and looked up, blushing, to see an equally amused and annoyed expression on the winter sprite's face.

"J-Jack?" the viking asked in a high pitched voice. Blushing more, he cleared his throat and asked, "What happened?"

Jack gave a pained smile and said, "Remember when I told you about that prank Loki and I played on Puck? Well..." Jack gestured to himself. "He got his payback."

The viking snickered. "He turned you both into girls?"

"No, Loki's always changing shape and gender so instead he used some kind of fertility spell on Loki and sent him after a horse. Now Loki's mad because he gave birth to this eight legged horse. Honestly though, Sleipnir is one of his more normal kids."

Hiccup laughed, but it died off quickly when he realized Jack wasn't joining in. Something was wrong. Jack usually laughed off a prank after the initial pouting, especially if he wasn't alone in the despair. "There's something else, isn't there?"

The winter god buried himself against Hiccup again, shaking slightly.

"Jack?" the dragon trainer whispered as he heard the boy-turned-girl start sniffling. Jack _never_ cried. At least not in front of Hiccup. He could still remember the one and only time it had happened; waking in the middle of the night to a god in his lap crying over a nightmare about Hiccup getting hurt was something the viking didn't think he could ever forget.

"I love you, Hiccup." The words were spoken between sobs and made Hiccup tighten his grip around his winter spirit.

"I love you too, Jack."

"I swear, I'll never forget you."

That made Hiccup pull back and look into Jack's face. Likewise, Jack was staring into his, blue eyes staring in a way that made it seem like they were taking in every detail, like they were trying to memorize even the tiniest freckle. "Jack?"

"I - Hiccup, I'm - I'm leaving."

Hiccup chuckled, even as it felt like something was crushing his chest. "That's not bad. I'll miss you, but you'll be back soon and then we'll..." The boy trailed off as Jack shook his head. The thing crushing him got tighter, a part of him knowing what's coming next while the other was in denial.

"Hiccup, I'm not just leaving the island or even the Archipelago. I'm - Hic, I'm leaving..."

"You're leaving Midgard." The heir of Berk felt a few tears in his own eyes as Jack nodded, once again pressed against his chest. A small part of him wished he had worn his armor, something he'd never felt he needed with Jack, as Frost slowly started spreading from the pale hands clutching his shirt and the spirit's tears began freezing on his shoulder. He ignored the cold though and ran his fingers through snowy locks. "How long will you be gone?"

"A long time."

"Like, after I've left for Valhalla?"

"More like after you're great-great- _great_ -grandchildren have left for Valhalla."

Good news: the thing wasn't crushing his chest anymore. Bad news: it was focusing all it's power on his heart now.

Hiccup nuzzled the other's head and asked, "How long do you have?"

"He said he'd come and get me a little after sunset."

Hiccup glanced up at the sky and was extremely glad he had talked himself into getting up early and leaving right at sunrise.

"I guess we should make the most of our last day together," Hiccup said, smiling down at his little, more than usual, winter god. "We can go fishing and ice-skating. I can watch as you mess with Snotlout. Whatever you want, just you and me."

"Sounds fun, but first..." Jack smiled up at him, wrapping pale arms around a freckled neck and floating up for a kiss. Hiccup smiled and returned the kiss, gently lowering the sprite to the ground.

-.-

Jack landed gently just out of view of the village.

"It's not _that_ funny," Hiccup grumbled from the giggling spirit's arms. Being carried bride-style had been a lot less awkward when Jack had been both bigger than him and physically male.

Chuckles dieing down, Jack set him down and looked to the side. Hiccup followed his gaze to see the sun sinking below the waves.

"Promise me you'll take care of yourself," the sprite said, leaning against the viking.

"You know I will," was the reply, along with a sassy smirk and a pair of freckled arms wrapping around a thin waist.

Jack frowned up at him and said, "I'm serious, Hiccup. I don't want to look into what happened to you and find out you died a week from now because you did something stupid for no reason. I want to find out that you went to valhalla after living a long life and having tons of fun with your grandkids. You promise me that."

Hiccup pressed a kiss to the spirit's ear and said, "I promise."

Turning in his arms, Jack gave him a peck on the lips and cupped his cheek. "I love you," the winter god said before pulling away.

The dragon trainer shared one last smile with his boyfriend before Jack disappeared in a swirl of what seemed to be silver sand.

Hiccup sighed, but before he could do anything else, a large black shape crashed into him.

"There you are! Where have you been, Hiccup? Toothless has been sulking on your roof all day!"

"Hey bud," Hiccup said, patting his dragon's snout before pushing the beast away and accepting Astrid's offered hand. As he stood up, he said, "Sorry, I was just... saying goodbye to a friend."

"A friend?" the viking girl asked, but was ignored.

"I should be getting home. My dad's probably not too happy about me disappearing."

"What else is new?" Astrid muttered as she watched the two walk away.

_I have died everyday waiting for you_

_Darling don't be afraid I have loved you_

_For a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_


	2. One Step Closer to Him

_Time stands still_

_Beauty in all she is_

_I will be brave_

_I will not let anything take away_

_What's standing in front of me_

_Every breath_

_Every hour has come to this_

_One step closer_

North paused in his speech as a small knocking sound made itself known. The Guardians all looked towards the door to see a preteen girl peeking in.

"Snegurochka? What are you doing here, внучка?" North asked, walking to the door and pulling the girl into a hug.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, papa, but I really must speak to Jack," the girl said once the Guardian of Wonder had returned her to the floor, her soft voice ringing with the faintest hint of a Russian accent.

"What's wrong, Snow?" Jack said, standing up and looking over the girl. The girl's windswept, white-blonde hair fell over her face, obscuring mossy green eyes and a face as pale as snow covered in freckles. The ends of her hair brushed against the silver belt that wrapped around her waist over her navy-blue sundress. A pair of silver leggings showed beneath the knee-length dress and ended just above bare feet.

The girl brushed her hair out of her face and said, "Can we talk in private?"

Jack started to nod and move away from the table the Guardians had been sitting at as they held their meeting, but before he could, Bunny grabbed his arm and pulled him back in his seat.

"Come on, Sheila, whatever you've gotta say to Frostbite, you can say in front of the rest of us. I promise we won't make fun of you. Frosty on the other hand... Although I do have to question your taste in boys-"

"Ew."

"Gross Bunny," Jack said, shoving the pooka's arm away. "Let's go Snow, we can talk -"

"Come now Jack, we are in meeting. I'm sure flirting with внучка can wait."

"Again, ew! Look, I really just need to give him Manny's message -"

"Message from Manny, then you must tell us! Come now!"

"I - I don't - I mean..." Snegurochka trailed off, glancing between North, Jack, and Bunny before focusing on Jack, who looked at the others before nodding. "Okay then. Manny said to tell you that, uh, _he_ found Toothless."

Four of the Guardians frowned in confusion. Sandy glanced towards Jack, only to shoot up an exclamation point when he realized the winter sprite's chair was empty.

"Was Manny looking for something? Why hadn't he asked us for help?"

"Toothless? Wha' does that even mean? Hey Frostbite, do ya know what she's talkin' 'bout?" Bunny said, before noticing what Sandy was trying to bring their attention to. "Oi, where'd Jackie go?"

Tooth and North looked over at the sprite's chair. "Da, where _did_ boy go?" North turned to the snow maiden, who was smiling towards the open window the boy had used. "What is going on внучка?"

Snegurochka just said, "I'll let him explain when he gets back."

-.-

Jack felt like his heart was trying to beat it's way out of his chest. It had been just under two hundred years since he had returned from the past and he could still hear Father time's words echoing in his head.

_After leaving the past, Father Time and Jack had appeared on the bank of Jack's lake._

_The winter sprite had promptly fallen to the ground, tears filling feminine eyes. "Why? Why did I have to leave? Couldn't you have given me a few more years?"_

_"All giving you more time would have done is tear the boy away from his destiny and make it even harder on you both when you'd have to leave," Father Time said. He stared down at the sniffling spirit for a moment before taking pity on the boy-turned-girl. "As it is, you've already detoured the boy from reaching his paradise."_

_"What?" the sprite asked, horror filling him. Hiccup hadn't gone to Valhalla? Why? Were the pastors in the churches near his home right that laying with a man sent you to hell, or Hel in Hiccup's case. Jack opened his mouth to ask, but was stopped by Father Time raising his hand._

_"Nothing as terrible as that. Tell me Jack, do you remember the red haired girl that always used to visit your lake when you first came around?"_

_"Sure, she would visit every fall because her fiancé had fallen in and drowned in the lake sometime before I had awakened. She even visited after she got married to some other guy. What about her?"_

_"Well, I thought it would interest you to know her name was Halle and she was descended from a long line of vikings, most notably a Mrs. Astrid Haddock who was one of the first Vikings to ever ride a dragon alongside her husband."_

_"Hiccup," Jack breathed. "But what does that have to do with Hiccup not going to Valhalla?"_

_"What it has to do with it is that young Halle was your Hiccup, at least in spirit. It seems the boy does not let go easy. He has been appearing every few generations in his descendants, looking for you."_

_"He's been looking for me?" Jack said, a smile coming to his face for only a second before the frown returned. "But she never saw me."_

_"Because although his spirit has been passed down, his memories have not. The girl was longing for something, but she did not know you so she pinned that longing on her lost love. As you are aware, humans need belief to see a spirit, and she did not believe."_

_"But_ nobody _believes in me! How am I supposed to be with Hiccup again if he doesn't believe in me, or even remember what we were!"_

_"He will. His memories are tied to the one person who's had the biggest impact in his life and when he's reunited with them, his memories will be released."_

_Jack frowned, racking his mind, before the answer came to him. "Toothless!"_

_Father Time smiled and nodded. "The dragon has also been reincarnated a few times, but as you know, dragons are few and far between. Humans rarely make contact with them nowadays."_

_"So all I have to do is find Toothless and bring him to Hiccup, then -"_

_"No," Father Time said, cutting him off. "You must not interfere. The boy must find his dragon on his own, or he very well may never retrieve his memories."_

_"But how long will it take for Hiccup to find Toothless on his own?"_

_"That, I cannot reveal to you."_

_"But he will, right?" the sprite pleaded. He couldn't stand to find out Hiccup was so close, yet he would never be able to reach him._

_Father Time smiled and set his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Of course child. If all goes as it should. Now stand, I do believe you remember sweet Halle's great-grandson, the stubborn little boy who's always sneaking off to help injured animals. Sounds quite familiar, don't you think?"_

_Jack felt his heart fill with hope and quickly jumped to his feet, but before he could get far, a bony hand grabbed his arm._

_"A word of caution though, child. Your Hiccup finding his dragon will be the sign that his memories will be revealed, but it will also be the sign of his last life."_

_"Y-you mean -"_

_"Yes, he will not be reincarnated into his family or any others when he dies. His life as a human will end."_

Jack smiled as he flew a little faster. He had long ago come to terms with the fact that he would one day lose Hiccup and he would be sad when the time came, of course, but he wouldn't be him if he let an unavoidable moment darken his outlook on life. He also knew Hiccup wouldn't want him to spend his (very long) life in mourning.

Besides, today was a happy day. Hiccup had found Toothless! He was going to remember everything! Jack felt himself speed up a little more.

He was heading towards Burgess of course. That was where the home of Henrik Bennett, a younger cousin to Jamie who had been born a little over a year after Jack had become a guardian, was. Admittedly, Jack had thought Jamie had been Hiccup at first, even without the usual indication of green eyes. The boy had just had a sort of spark about him. Sophie had been next on the list, with her eyes looking so much like Hiccup's and that same spark Jamie carried. However, Jack had learned quickly that that was just the Bennett kids themselves and it had helped during the battle with Pitch.

Henrik was positively Hiccup though. If not for the fact that the young teen looked almost exactly like Hiccup had at seventeen, then for the way he was always drawing blueprints and building little contraptions. The way he volunteered at the animal shelter. The way he was clumsy, yet determined, and stubborn, yet caring.

Jack dropped as he let gravity take over. The wind caught him just before he could hit the roof of Henrik's house and he swerved to land on the fence. He frowned as he saw both cars and Henrik's bike were missing.

The winter spirit lifted into the air and floated off to the bookstore a couple streets over. Landing on the balcony of the linked apartment, he rapping his knuckles against the sliding glass door. He watched the frost the action created melt in the summer heat until a young, auburn haired woman in a robe pushed open the curtains.

"Jack?" she asked, opening the door.

"Hey Pippa, Jamie," Jack said, nodding to the young man that was standing in the hallway, pajama pants hanging low on his hips. "Am I interrupting?" The sprite laughed at the flustered looks on the couples faces before saying, "Never mind. Do you guys know where Henrik is?"

"I think Jamie's aunt said something about him going camping with friends."

"Yeah, Aunt Viv said they were going up to Crest Peak for the weekend so he couldn't work at the bookstore."

"Great, thanks guys. Oh, and the others said they should all be able to make the ceremony, but Tooth and Sandy don't think they'll be able to stay for the reception. They're looking forward to the after party at North's though. So I guess I'll just leave you to your _business_ then."

Jack gave the pair a wink that had them blushing again before shooting into the air and towards the forest. It figured Toothless was in the mountains. If he was anywhere near the valley, Jack was sure he would at least have run into the dragon's family if not the dragon himself. They weren't exactly the most subtle creatures.

Jack swerved through trees until he reached the Crest Peak camping ground, only to hit the trails when he saw that the tents were empty. He finally tracked down the group outside of a cave.

"But where's Henrik?" He asked searching the group for the boy.

"Come on Henry! It's getting dark!" a girl yelled into the cave.

"I'm telling you, you're seeing things. There's nothing in there shorty," her boyfriend called, only for her to smack him on the arm.

"Just a second, I swear I saw something!"

Jack smiled as Henrik's voice echoed out of the cave. He dropped onto the ground and walked towards the entrance. None of the teens believed in him anymore so he passed the group unnoticed. Jack slipped into the cave and drifted down the short tunnel.

"Oh my - guys you won't believe this!"

Jack turned a corner and was greeted by the sight of a seventeen-year-old boy staring up at a large black dragon. Jack smiled and made to step forward.

Jack choked as he felt something tighten around his neck. The thing pulled, dragging him backwards before dropping him at the entrance to the cave. Coughing, Jack got to his hands and knees and looked up.

Pitch Black stood before him, a black sand rope in hand connecting to the matching noose that wrapped around Jack's neck.

"Pitch," Jack growled, freezing off the noose. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised the kinds of things one can learn about their enemies when one can see their worst fears," Pitch said and sent a blast of sand at the sprite.

The winter spirit dodged the first blast, but the second caught him, sending out of the cave and slamming him against a tree. Jack jumped to his feet, staff at the ready, but Pitch just smiled before disappearing into the shadows. He frowned, not understanding why the Nightmare King would just disappear, until he heard the rumbling.

"Cave in!" the boy from earlier called.

"Henry!" his girlfriend screamed as Jack yelled "Hiccup!" Both ran for the cave entrance, but while the girl was stopped by her boyfriend, Jack was only stopped when a falling wall of rocks nearly took his head off.

"No. Nononono!" Jack yelled, clawing at the rocks that separated him from his love, only managing to make it worse as they froze together. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not yet. "Hiccup!"

Jack swung around, ready to start yelling at the teens, no matter if they couldn't see or hear him, but the girls were already on the phone with emergency services and their parents and the guys were starting to move the smaller rocks. Reluctantly, Jack floated away and settled on a tree branch.

It was hours later that the rescue crew was able to clear the rocks enough for them to move into the cave. For the first time in his life, Jack was glad that he was invisible as he flew straight through the group and into the cave. "Hiccup, Hiccup!" he called as he settled next to the boy's prone form. "Come on Henrik, look at me! Toothless, hey bud, please!" Jack tried shaking both, but it was obvious neither were waking up.

"I found him!" someone called and Jack backed away as men started crowding around the boy.

"I lost him."

_I have died everyday waiting for you_

_Darling don't be afraid I have loved you_

_For a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> внучка = Granddaughter
> 
> My headcanon is that Jamie grew up to be a writer and owned a small bookstore. I also ship him and Pippa, in case that wasn't obvious. Henrik worked at the bookstore during the summer to make some extra money.


	3. One Step Closer to a Thousand Years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone's interested, I did make a [music video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOP_lGpri1o) that goes along with this. There's also a picture I made on a doll maker of [fem!Jack and Snegurochka](http://mischiefspirit.deviantart.com/art/One-Step-Closer-481435854).

_And all along I believed I would find you_

_Time has brought your heart to me_

_I have loved you for a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

_One step closer_

Jack sat, curled up underneath a tree, long after the crew had bagged up Henrik's body and left. Toothless's body still lay in the cave, buried under rocks and topped by a carved dragon to form the closest thing to a memorial Jack could give the dragon. The winter sprite didn't have a care in the world for the icy trails forming on his cheeks. Hiccup was gone. Henrik was gone. Even Toothless, as frustrating as he had been, would be missed. It was just too much and too soon for him to take.

So when something began to nudge his cheek and shoulder, he felt completely justified in growling, "Get lost!"

When the nudging continued, Jack looked up, ready to make whoever it was (and oh how he hoped it would be Pitch, though if the shadow man knew what was good for him he wouldn't be showing his face for the next century or two) go away. He froze as he realized the "someone" wasn't a person or even an animal, but a floating orb of light.

"Is that a moonbeam?" He asked, watching the light float a bit into the forest. When the beam saw he wasn't following it floated back over and started nudging him again. Jack glared up at the newly risen moon and said, "Really? After three hundred years you choose _now_ to try and talk to me?"

The beam glowed a little brighter and started floating away again. The sprite glared at it for a few seconds before sighing and following. It led him through the forest until he reached a small clearing housing a pair of figures standing over a large shadow. The moment he stepped into the clearing, the moonbeam shot away from him to circle around the two figures, gaining their attention, before heading back towards the moon.

The two figures turned to Jack and he was able to see that they were a man and woman. Both had soft pink eyes and platinum blonde hair, the woman's shoulder length and in ringlets and the man's short and wavy. The woman appeared to be in her mid twenties and was tall with strong arms and legs and full curves. She wore a red, asymmetrical cocktail dress and strappy heels. The man appeared slightly older and was all lean muscle and strong jawed. He wore a pair of black dress pants, dark red hunting boots, and a white dress shirt, a red tie hanging loose from his neck and a dark red quiver, with arrows and a bow, hooked to the belt around his waist.

The woman was smiling, but the man stared at Jack quizzically. "Is this him then?" the man asked.

The woman nodded and walked towards the sprite. "Hello Jack Frost, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Who are you and what do you want? I'm not exactly in the mood for anything but a fight."

The woman chuckled and said, "My name is Aphrodite or Venus and this is my son Eros or Cupid."

"Cupid? Like the naked baby angel?"

"Watch it boy, I'm no cherub. You might be able to get away with that with the rabbit, but I carry more than love arrows in my quiver and I will use them," Eros said, stepping forward and patting his quiver.

"Hush, my child. We are not here for a fight."

"Then what do you want?" Jack growled, raising his staff. Damn it, all he wanted was to be alone in mourning right now.

"Calm, I want nothing more than to ease your pain."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, not just yours. I have been feeling the pain of a lost lover for over a _millennia_ and that is not considering _your_ constant heartbreak. You think now, when I was so close, that I will just sit back and let that foolish nightmare king get in my way. Oh no, not going to happen."

"Wait, what?"

"See for yourself."

Jack frowned, but lowered his staff. Cautiously, he stepped forward, walking closer to the shadow. He was three feet from the shape when he realized what it was.

Aphrodite wrapped her arms around his shocked form and rested her head on his. "Adorable, are they not? Not my type, but I have to say, you have got good taste."

"Hiccup."

"Hiccup, Henrik, a mix of both really. Did you know 'Henry' has had a crush on you since he was thirteen? Puppy love is so adorable, is it not Eros?"

"Hiccup."

"Not very quick, is he?"

"Oh hush, Eros."

"B-but, I thought..." _His life as a human will end._ "So he meant..." Jack stumbled to his knees and grabbed Hiccup's hand. Hiccup! He was alive... sort of. He was a spirit. His hair was a brighter red color and his cheeks, arms, and neck were spotted with brown scales. Next to him lay Toothless, whose prosthetic tail fin had been replaced by a real one, though it was the same bright red of his prosthetic.

"They both should awaken soon. Come Eros, let us give them some privacy," Aphrodite said, hooking her arm on Eros's and pulling him away.

"I- I don't know how to thank you."

Aphrodite just smiled and winked before the two disappeared in a flash.

A groan sent Jack's attention back to the ground. "Hey Toothless buddy."

Yellow-green eyes blinked up blearily at Jack before huffing smoke in his face and looking down at Hiccup.

"Yeah, great to see you too."

"Jack?"

"He- Hi- Hey, how you feeling?"

"Better than I felt after facing the red death," the red head groaned, sitting up. He frowned up at Jack. "Wait, Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"I - Jack I died. Twice! How did I die twice? And how am I here? I - My name was Hiccup, but..."

"Sh, calm down," Jack said, moving to embrace the boy. "It'll only hurt more if you try to force it, trust me. Just relax and let the memories come."

The boy looked up, allowing Jack to see that the green eyes were now freckled with yellow in the same fashion as the dragon's, before closing his eyes. He sighed and relaxed as his memories began to align, first the Hiccup ones then the Henrik ones. His eyes flickered open and he raised a hand to cup Jack's cheek. "I remember everything, from both of my lives."

"Well two of them," Jack chuckled. At the confused look sent his way, Jack continued, "You've been reincarnating yourself since 'Hiccup' died."

"Is that what happened now? Because I swear I remember dying, right after I found... Toothless!" Hiccup swung around to look at the dragon, who nuzzled the boy and made a purr-like sound.

"Yep, he's here to. Guess he wouldn't leave without you. But to answer your question, no not exactly. See, your not - I mean - Hic, you're not human anymore. You're a spirit, like me. Well, not exactly like me. She didn't exactly say what type of spirit you were, but with the scales it's probably a safe bet you're a dragon spirit."

"She?" Hiccup asked, turning back to Jack.

"Aphrodite, the goddess of love. She's the one that brought you back, something about us and our love lives pissing her off."

Hiccup snorted, then frowned. "Wait, if I died then my parents, my friends, they all think I'm..."

"Yeah, I'm sorry Hic."

"It's not your fault," Hiccup said, squeezing Jack's arm.

"Yes it is. If it wasn't for me, Pitch would never have gone after you."

"Pitch? He's the one that caused the cave in?" the dragon spirit asked, thinking back on the stories his cousin used to tell him growing up about the Guardians and their battles against the Boogeyman. At the sprite's nod, Hiccup shook his head and said, "Jack that's not your fault. You could just as easily blame me for just walking into a random cave without checking to be sure it's safe or Toothless since he's the reason I went into the cave in the first place."

Toothless huffed and gave the former viking a glare, as if insulted that Hiccup had thought to place blame on him.

"You're not helping, bud. Jack, what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't blame yourself. Things happen for a reason."

The sprite stared at the boy in his arms for a moment before sighing and dropping his head into cherry locks. "I've missed you Hiccup." He made a face and pulled away, saying, "Wait, should I call you Hiccup, or should you still be Henrik?"

"I... don't know. Hiccup I guess since it is my 'first' name," Hiccup said with a thoughtful look.

"Cool. Sophie, Jamie, and Pippa will probably still want to call you Henrik. The other Guardians will probably accept the name swap easily enough though."

"Wait, we're going to tell my family I'm still alive? Aren't there rules against that or something?"

"There's not a rule per-se. It is usually looked down upon for spirits to 'haunt' their living family, but Jamie, Sophie, and Pippa are all familiar with spirits, so they should be okay."

"Okay," Hiccup said slowly, as if he didn't completely trust the winter spirit's logic which prompted a frown from said spirit. "So I'm going to be meeting the other Guardians then?" he asked. Unlike his cousins and the rest of, what Jack called, the burgess seven, Hiccup had never met all the Guardians. He had only met Bunny, who always showed up with a basket of chocolates for Sophie's birthday, and the little brown, black, and white colored, bird-like fairy that Jack swore used to be one of the Tooth Fairy's helpers. And of course, like every other kid his age and younger that lived in burgess, he had grown up with Jack as the ultimate winter-time playmate. The closest he'd ever gotten to seeing the others was being able to see the Sandman's dreamsand trails flow through the night as he grew old enough to stay up late.

Laughing, Jack nodded and jumped to his feet, pulling the red-head up with him. "Yeah, in fact they're probably all still at North's since I just up and ditched them right in the middle of a meeting. Oh yeah, and there's someone else you've gotta meet there too! She's been waiting a long time to meet you. Oh man is she gonna be happy, though she'll probably try to run off to kill Pitch when she finds out what happened. She nearly did after she found out about our battle with him that one time."

"Who is she?" Hiccup said, slipping onto Toothless's back and making a mental note to figure out a way to make the dragon a new saddle. Maybe North would let him use some supplies from the workshop?

"Nuh-uh, it's a surprise!" Jack said, lifting into the air.

Dragon and rider followed after, but both were shocked when they realized just how fast they launched upwards. Hiccup thought to ask Jack, but shrugged it off. The were spirits now and spirits did get bonus power and strength, right? Either way, the trio quickly found themselves passing the arctic circle in less time than Hiccup remembered it taking to get to dragon island.

-.-

"Why are we even still here? It's been hours!"

"Come on, Bunny, it's not like you have anything to do. It's your off season. My girl's are doing fine and Sandy's perfectly capable of commanding his dreamsand from here. There's no reason any of us have to leave until Jack returns."

"Who says Frostbite's even coming back? He's probably off playing somewhere."

Baby Tooth shot over from her spot on Snegruchka's lap and got in Bunny's face. She had been resting in Jack's room at the workshop, only to come looking when the meeting had been running longer than usual. Of course, the moment her mother had told her the moon man's message, she had known exactly what was going on and she was sure that as soon as her Jack found his Hiccup he would be coming straight to his family, the Guardians, to tell them the news. So the Kangaroo just needed to be quiet and patient, and that's exactly what she told him.

"Oi, I'm not a Kangaroo!"

"Bunny -"

Tooth was cut off as a blast of wind came through the still open window, bringing with it a large black shape. Immediately all the Guardians were up in battle positions, not taking any relief when they realized the shape wasn't a fearling or nightmare, but a dragon.

"Woah, calm down guys. Haven't you ever seen a Night Fury before?" Jack said, calmly drifting through the window and landing next to the head of the dragon.

"Jack, there you are! Why have you brought dragon into workshop?" North asked as the elder spirits relaxed slightly.

"Oh sorry, I didn't realize. I don't think Toothless would have stayed outside though. He gets clingy after being separated for too long, and we've been separated for a long time," said a voice. For a moment, the Guardians thought it was the dragon that spoke, but then the dragon's wings lowered, revealing a small teen wearing a green t-shirt, brown cargo pants, and dark brown hiking boots perched on the dragon's back.

"Henrik? What on earth are you doing here? And why were you riding a dragon?" Bunny asked as he watched the teen dismount. "And what happened to your face?" he added when he caught sight of the scales.

"Okay, so long story short: Henrik's actually the reincarnation of this viking kid I met when Father Time sent me back in time as punishment for a prank. Aphrodite brought him back to life about an hour ago after Pitch killed him and now he's a dragon spirit, I think." Jack smiled at the dumbfounded group.

"Sent you back - well I guess that does explain the talk about paradoxes. Honestly, it figures you'd try to pull a prank on Father Time," Hiccup muttered and Toothless softly growled an agreement.

"Henrik's a - and Aphrodite did - Mate, I think we need a little bit more of an explanation than that."

"Well -"

"PITCH DID WHAT?"

Jack flinched at the Snow Maiden's shout and quickly tied to change the subject by saying, "Introductions! We need introductions! Hiccup, you know Bunny of course. This is Toothiana the Tooth Fairy, but we just call her Tooth. That's Sanderson Mansnoozie the Sandman, or just Sandy. And Nicholas St. North otherwise known as Santa. Everyone, this is Hiccup and he's - Valka Emilia Overland Frost-Haddock don't you even think about leaving this workshop!"

Everyone in the room jumped as Jack suddenly yelled and shot a glare at the snow spirit who had been attempting to sneak out a door.

The girl rounded on him and said, "But we can't just let Pitch get away."

"We won't. Trust me, I'll make sure he gets what's coming to him, but I've told you before you are to go nowhere near him."

"But -"

"No, Val, I'm putting my foot down and you know I hate doing that."

The two shared a glare off before Snegurochka turned away, arms crossed.

"Rimsky-Korsakov, what just happened?"

"Did Frostbite just call her -"

"Haddock?" Hiccup squeaked, glancing between the girl and Jack.

"Jack, why did you call Snegurochka that?" Tooth asked, also glancing between the two winter spirits.

"Because that's her name?" Jack said, the statement coming out as a question as he nervously scratched his neck. This wasn't going how he thought it would.

"But you called her Frost."

"Yeah," Jack said slowly. "She _is_ my daughter. Why wouldn't she have my last name?"

"Daughter!" Tooth and Hiccup screamed while North said something that Jack was pretty sure was a curse in Russian.

"Yeah, I thought you guys knew that. The stories all say she's the daughter of winter," Jack said, looking over to the still sulking Snow Maiden, only to get a shrug.

"Crikey Frostbite, we thought she was Father Frost's daughter. Why on Earth would we have assumed she was yours?"

Jack gave the rabbit a deadpanned look and said, "I _am_ Father Frost, Bunny. That's the name General Winter gave the Russians for me, like how that idiot Loki told the Vikings I was Jokul Frosti."

"How did you not know this North?" Tooth whispered to the Wonder Guardian.

"Never came up. Girl was always just Valka or Snegurochka until rumor's started going around that girl was granddaughter. We just went with it," North said. Looking back though, hadn't the village he'd discovered the girl near during a pre-christmas flight been Burgess, Jack's home? He hadn't put much thought into it at the time, too caught up in the beautiful details of the music box the girl had been carving. He had just invited the girl to the workshop and when she had said she needed permission from her father he, like the others, had assumed she meant the mysterious Father Frost of Russian lore as her own story had been started in Russia, also by General Winter.

"Wait, so you mean to tell me that Frostbite here got some sheila knocked up? I don't buy it."

"Not exactly," Jack muttered, his face bright red as Valka began laughing.

"Yeah, considering that dad was the one that got 'knocked up'," she giggled.

Blush growing, Jack glared at the girl and said, "That's it, you're grounded."

Hiccup's emotions were going crazy. First had been jealousy at the fact that Jack, _his Jack_ , had slept with and had a child with someone else, then confusion at the fact that said child would bare not only his name, but one that Jack had known to be Hiccup's mother's. He wasn't sure how to feel about the fact Jack had supposedly given birth to the girl. Sure, he was completely aware of the myths, confirmed true by Jack, that Loki had given birth to multiple kids, but Jack had always said the shapeshifter had been female when giving birth and Jack wasn't a shapeshifter. Although, hadn't Jack been transformed into a girl before he had left and they had... "Oh gods!"

Jack turned to Hiccup and, after taking in his face, gave the dragon spirit a small smile, mouthing the word "surprise."

_I have died everyday waiting for you_

_Darling don't be afraid I have loved you_

_For a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

_And all along I believed I would find you_

_Time has brought your heart to me_

_I have loved you for a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

**_~ A Thousand Years Pt. 2 by Christina Perri ft. Steve Kazee_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack, that's probably one of the worst ways to tell a guy he's got a kid.
> 
> Since people always seem to make Aphrodite into this twiggy, "prom queen" figure, I figured I'd go for a more BA version of her. Someone who'd kick your butt if you got in her way. Because she's passionate in _everything_ she puts her heart and mind too. Besides, who says "beauty" means she has to look like some toothpick.
> 
> I don't know why, but all my time masters end up coming out as riddle-making trolls. I do the same thing with Clockwork from Danny Phantom.
> 
> I'm in agreement with the headcanon going around that Jack naming Baby separated her from the others so it kind of slipped in here. She's now patterned similar to female snow buntings with her insect like wings being a white-silver color with frost designs. Her eyes, however, remained the same. She's bigger now too, about the size of a small dog. She's also been spending too much time round Jack. Don't blame her for the Kangaroo comment, Bunny. Jack's just a bad influence.
> 
> I figure Jack probably went to Winter and the Snow Queen for help with Valka, making them her kinda-sorta godparents, which is why the General is mentioned here, spreading rumors about Valka.


End file.
